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The Book of Common Prayer | ||||||
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| After the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, the established church in Scotland became firmly Presbyterian, so those who preferred Anglican forms created the independent Scottish Episcopal Church, which was Nonjuring and, because it was also largely Jacobite, it endured significant persecution by the English over the next century. Initially, these Scottish Episcopalians used the existing (non-liturgical) customs of the dominant Presbyterian church, celebrating the Eucharist, for example, once a year, if that often. Eventually, copies of the English 1662 Prayer Book were made available, and its use became wide-spread and, in fact, remained so for at least the next hundred years. However, by the early 1700's, many Scottish Episcopalians, partly influenced by the English nonjurors, wished to use the Communion service from the 1637 Scottish Book of Common Prayer instead of that from the Church of England, but, since copies weren't easily available, pamphlets (called "wee bookies") were produced, giving the Communion service starting either at the Exhortation or at the Offertory, thus conveniently omitting prayers for the English king. These were in use from the early 1700s and throughout the 1800s. As there was little or no central control over the "wee bookies", they gradually diverged from the 1637 text. We present here six editions of these "Wee Bookies", from 1724, 1743, 1755, 1764, 1796 and 1800. The text of the 1764 edition is taken from a copy on Google Books; the others are all taken from Fragmenta Liturgica, Vol. 5, ed. by Peter Hall, published in 1848. Hall's introduction to the Wee Bookies appeared separately in Vol. 1, and is reproduced immediately below. Further information on these "Wee Bookies" and on the Scottish Episcopal Church in the 18th and 19th centuries may be found in:
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THE SCOTTISH COMMUNION-OFFICE. IT is a circumstance much to be deplored, that the Office for the celebration of the holy Communion in the Episcopal Church of Scotland has of late [1848] become almost of necessity a topic for dissension and dispute. The Editor desires, as much as possible, to avoid the questions agitated, not between the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians of Scotland, but between the Episcopalians of Scotland and of England: only observing, that independently of right or wrong as regards the position of an English Episcopalian residing and officiating in a Diocese of Scotland, he cannot but think it unreasonable that a member of the Church of England should be expected to use the Communion-Office of the Church of Scotland. Whatever may be their comparative excellencies, the difference between the English and the Scottish Offices is unequivocal: the English being exclusively commemorative, the Scottish distinctly (though not exclusively) sacrificial. The Editor writes thus, not in condemnation of the Episcopalians of Scotland, but in vindication of the Episcopalians of England, who decline adopting the Communion-Service of the Church of Scotland. Discrepancy between the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Community. By Rev. Edward Craig. [With Supplement.] Edinb. 1842. To these may be added, as exhibiting the dispute on either side : Christian Remembrancer, for Dec. 1843, and Jan. 1844. By adversaries, the origin of the Scottish Communion-Office has been assigned to the Mass-Book of the Church of Rome. This is a statement, if not positively untrue and dishonest, certainly disingenuous and unfair. The Scottish Office is the Romish Missal, just as is the English Office; that is, the Missal reformed, and restored to the condition most consonant, in the judgment of either Church, (for here the Churches differ,) with the Formularies of Primitive Antiquity. The English Office (as it now stands) was arranged from the earlier Offices of Edward, Elizabeth, and James; as these had been arranged before by a comparison of the Missal with the Primitive Liturgies, and a subjection of both to the testimony of the word of God. The genealogy of the Scottish Office is less direct, but not less distinct: and the reason for the variations that appear in the result is probably this, that Scripture has prevailed more over tradition in the Southern Office, and tradition more over Scripture in the Northern. |
From Fragmenta Liturgica, Vol. 1, by Peter Hall.
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| Note that a reprint of the entire 1637 Scottish Book of Common Prayer appeared in 1712 and is online. | |
| The Editor has now before him not fewer than thirty-four editions of the Scottish Communion-Office; besides several others, which he knows exist, but cannot find. The variations of these, after a careful and tedious collation, he will now endeavour to arrange. 1. Gadderer (Bishop of Aberdeen, 1712 to 1733) is said to have first printed the Communion-Office, without alteration, from the Prayer-Book of 1637. Several have mentioned this as a fact, and assigned the date of 1723; but none have seen the edition. With the date of 1723, the Editor doubts whether any such edition exists. But there is, in the British Museum, without date, a verbal and literal reprint of the Office of 1637, in 8vo. The copy has no title-page, and probably never had; nor any mention of year, place, or printer: a date of 1750 is written on the first page with a pen; but the paper, ink, and style of printing seem older. And as this agrees with no other copy the Editor has seen, being, in fact, the only edition which retains the name of King Charles, he ventures to think it may not improbably be the edition of 1723; but prepared, not by Gadderer, but by Rattray. At all events, as a transcript of Laud's, he has printed this as the thema et fundamentum of the rest; merely making a title-page of the heading. |
Subsequent authors have found copies of this edition. It follows the 1637 Communion Service exactly, but omits everything up through the Creed and has only the one Exhortation printed in later editions. It also omits all of the collects following the dismissal. These differences are retained in all subsequent editions. |
| 2. In the copies circulated by Rattray, though conforming precisely to the folio of 1637, alterations were made by Gadderer; and after a copy, thus revised, an edition was printed by Ruddiman, of Edinburgh, in 1724, 12mo. This is the earliest edition that bears a date; and though to be regarded only as preliminary to subsequent editions, is here reprinted. | 1724 Edition |
| 3. Gadderer now began to insert directions, written on the margin, for departure from the Office as put forth in print; and from these an edition was circulated surreptitiously without place or name of printer, ("by two merchants," says Bishop Gerard, "hoping to make a penny" by the speculation,) in 1735. But nothing authoritative appeared till 1743; when Gadderer published what may be called the first standard edition, though differing only in date from the edition of 1735. This is here reprinted, with the variations (few and slight) of an edition, printed in very small size, also without place or name, in 1752. The edition of 1743 acquires additional importance, as the edition recognised by the Canons of the same year; those Canons forming the code of discipline for the Episcopal Church of Scotland till the year 1811; as may be seen in Dundass's Enquiry into the Usage of Prayers for the Dead, Edinb. 1743, 8vo. pp. 37-39. A copy of the Scottish Prayer-Book of 1637, formerly belonging to Bishop Campbell, still exists, with several prayers interpolated in his own hand-writing. The sign of the cross is marked occasionally for observance, and the words "militant here on earth," are erased from the invitation to pray for the whole state of the Church. |
1735 / 1743 Edition |
| 4. To Gerard (Bishop of Aberdeen, 1747 to 1768) may perhaps be attributed an edition, published also without place or name, in 1755. In general character there is a close resemblance to the edition of 1743; but as the variations deserve notice, this is also reprinted. A similar edition was printed at Edinburgh, for Reid, bookseller of Leith, 1762. |
1755 Edition |
| 5. Forbes (Bishop of Ross, 1762 to 1776) and Falconar (Bishop of the Orkneys, 1741 to 1784) have next the credit of two editions, one in 8vo. the other in 12mo. both printed at Edinburgh, for Drummond, of the Ossian's Head, 1764. The type differs: but the language is the same throughout, even to the punctuation; following the edition of 1755, but not without variations. This (that is, either of the two) may be considered as the second standard edition; and is therefore reprinted here, followed by MS. Variations from the pen of Bishop Alexander. Other editions-one printed by Robertson, of Leith, 1765; another by Robertson, of Edinburgh, 1767; another by Chalmers, of Aberdeen, 1771; another by Robertson, of Edinburgh, 1774; another by Chalmers, of Aberdeen, 1780; another at Edinburgh, 1781; and another at Aberdeen, 1795 all pursue the same track, with little or no deviation. Nor should mention be omitted here of a Collation of the several Communion-Offices in the Prayer-Book of Edward VI, the Scotch Prayer-Book of the year 1637, the present English Prayer-Book, and that used in the present Scotch Episcopal Church. Lond: 1792, 4to. The collation was made by Horsley, Bishop of St. Asaph, and attested by Skinner, Bishop and Delegate of the Scotch Episcopal Church; and reprinted as an Appendix to Skinner's Communion-Office Illustrated, in 1807. A collation of the Prayer of Consecration and Form of Administration, including both editions of Edward VI, is inserted at the end of Drummond's Historical Sketch of Episcopacy in Scotland; Edinb. 1845, 12mo: and a Tabular View of the Variations of Order in the three standards of the Scottish Office is here presented on the opposite page. The Use in the earlier copies, marked with pen and ink, corresponds with the Use of 1755; as does also the Use of 1764. |
This is the edition used for the consecration of Samuel Seabury, the first bishop of the U. S. Episcopal Church, and formed the basis for its Communion Service. It is also generally recognized as the "Standard". An edition from 1792, reprinted in 1866, which includes the parts before the Exhortation, is online from Google Books. |
| 6. Drummond (Bishop of Edinburgh, 1787 to 1805) was the next to issue an edition, printed at Edinburgh, for Moir, 1796, 12mo. The variations here are considerable, including Private Devotions to accompany the Public Ordinance at Church: and the edition is therefore included among the reprints. A second followed, Edinb: 1801, 12mo; a third, in 1806; and a fourth, in 1809. | 1796 Edition |
| 7. Finally, the Rev. John Skinner, of Forfar, (son of the late Bishop of Aberdeen,) revised an edition, printed by Chalmers for Ironside of Aberdeen, 1800, 8vo. This again, as it differed considerably from all that had gone before, so it became the model for almost all that have succeeded; and, as the third standard edition, is here reprinted, together with MS. Variations from an earlier edition, inserted in a copy published by Chalmers of Aberdeen, 1819, 8vo. But though in fact the standard of the editions now in use, this is less known than a subsequent edition published also by Skinner, with a Preliminary Dissertation on the Doctrine of the Eucharistical Sacrifice, a copious local Illustration, and an Appendix; Aberdeen, 1807, 8vo. With one exception, to be mentioned presently, the Scottish Office has remained well nigh stationary since the edition by Skinner; which was reprinted at Aberdeen, 1811, 1812, 1818, 1819, 1835, 1839, 1843, 1844, and 1847. An edition was published at Elgin, by Brander, 1838, 12mo, containing the Morning and Evening Hymns, and some slight variations: and another at Edinburgh, for Lendrum, with the 21st Canon, under the title of the Office for the Holy Communion according to the Use of the Church of Scotland, 1847, 12mo. The Companion to the Altar, Aberdeen, 1847, 12mo, contains also the Communion-Office, with Private Devotions, and other accompaniments. |
1800 Edition |
| 8. But another variety, and perhaps the most remarkable of all, still remains for notice. Several editions were printed in 1842 and 1844, for Grant and Son, of Edinburgh. They are prettily executed, and look at first sight so like each other, as almost to defy the discovery that they differ materially in their contents. For instance: there is an edition For the use of the Scottish Church, printed at the University Press, 1842, which agrees with Falconar and Forbes of 1764. Then, again, there is an edition For the use of the Church of Scotland, printed by Neill, 1844, which agrees with Skinner of 1800. And yet again, there is an edition also For the use of the Church of Scotland, printed by Neill, 1844, which agrees with no other edition ever published. The alterations are numerous and significant; and the secret of the matter is reported to be that the last was an edition printed for the Church of St. Columba at Edinburgh, but denied the sanction of the Primus. This, as carrying the variations to a close, is also reprinted: and after this are placed such portions of the present American Office, by Bishop Seabury, of Connecticut, as serve to illustrate the changes made in the Scottish. As respects the edition, beautifully printed in black letter, with musical notes, for Burns, of London, and designated, The Order of the Administration of the Holy Communion, according to the Use of the Church in Scotland, 1844, 4to; this is, in fact, an attempt to combine the English and Scottish Offices. The Ante-Communion Office (formerly called the Beginning of the Communion-Office) proceeds as far as the Sermon much after the English fashion; followed by the Exhortation to Communicants, also after the English, but to the omission of the Notice of Communion: then come the Suffrages, and so forth, as in Skinner's edition of the Scottish. Yet neither the English nor the Scottish is so scrupulously observed, especially in the Rubrics, but that variations appear in both. This edition is said to have been used at Jedburgh, and nowhere else. |
Also, a later printing from 1854 is online from Google Books. It is virtually identical to the 1764 edition, the only real difference being that the reigning monarch (Victoria) is named. |
| For some account of the Constitution, Doctrine, and Worship of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, reference may be made to the Religious World Displayed, by the Rev. R. Adam, an Episcopalian Clergyman, Edinb. 1809, vol ii pp. 425-433; and to the Appendix to the Church History of England, just published, by the Rev. J. A. Baxter, 1849, 8vo, pp. 778-80. The points at issue between the Scotch and English Offices come under consideration in Dr. Alex. Grant's Apology for continuing in the Communion of the Church of England, Dundee, 1804, 8vo. and in Thoughts occasioned by Dr. Grant's Apology, Edinb. 1805, 8vo. The Editor has thus enumerated the editions he has himself obtained and examined; and endeavoured so to arrange them, as to shew their relative succession and dependence. Others, no doubt, exist; which those who possess them will do well to collate and describe. It must not be assumed, however, that the name of the Editor attached to each edition stands on proof unquestionable. With the exception of Skinner's edition of 1800, there is no name of compiler or reviser expressed in any. "Every single Bishop," writes Bp. Drummond in 1792, "has made editions, and even some changes and additions according to their liking." Yet the names are assigned sometimes but as traditional suggestions, and sometimes as scarcely more than probable conjectures. Neither, again, must it be taken for granted that the Scottish Communion-Office is the universal, or even the general, custom of the Episcopal Church in Scotland The Scottish Office is not used in more than one-fourth of the Episcopal Churches in Scotland: chiefly in the Northern Dioceses of Aberdeen, St. Andrews, Moray, and Brechin. True, the Canons of 1838 are more decisive than those of 1811 or 1828: yet even now the Law of the Church enforces no more than that in the Ritual (whether English or Scottish) no alteration, amalgamation, interpolation, or substitution be admitted without approval of the Bishop; and that the Scottish Office (of course, as now published) be used at all General Synods, as previously at all Episcopal Consecrations. Before the revision of the Canons, diversity of practice had extended, through the whole land, into every ordinance of the Church. So late as 1810, Bishop Gleig complains in a Letter to Bishop Skinner, of "the useless alterations which were made by many of the Clergy in the Daily Service." "Every man in my Diocese," he says, "varied the Form according to his own judgment or caprice; and to such length was this most unaccountable rage for innovation carried, that the very Communion-Office was interpolated with long prayers." Skinner's Annals of Scottish Episcopacy, 1818, 8vo. p. 491. Since then, the only difference observable in the order of Public Worship is, that while in some Congregations the English Prayer-Book is used complete, in others the English Communion-Office has given way to the Scotch. Yet that there may still remain room for verbal differences, would appear from Garden's Letter to the Bishop of Cashel, Edinb. 1845, 8vo; and for differences in other matters beside the form of words, from Notes Explanatory of the manner in which Divine Service is conducted in St. Catherine's Church, Blairgowrie, Edinb.1843, 8vo. In the Diocese of Aberdeen a petition was presented to the Bishop some four or five years ago, against a movement then in contemplation for either a revision of the Communion-Office, or a withdrawal of the declaration of its orthodoxy in the 21st Canon. Another movement is in progress just now among the Laity of Edinburgh, to request the Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese to get the English and Scottish Offices declared of equal authority. |
VARIATIONS IN THE ORDER OF THE SCOTTISH COMMUNION-OFFICE. |
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Use of 1637. |
Use of 1743. |
Use of 1755. |
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